Working Waterfront

Challenges with a purpose is island life

A newcomer to the island, upon hearing about some of the inconveniences and stressors of island life, asked me, in all seriousness, “So why do you stay?” There are times when I ask myself the same question. Like on a dark, rolling December ferry ride, shivering in my car (because… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The other side of Land for Maine’s Future

This summer, $40 million was added to the state budget for the Land for Maine’s Future program, normally funded by a bond submitted to voters. No reason was given by the legislature for this change, but recent history may have been a guide. In 2019, a similar LMF bond was… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Much to gain by embracing the unknown

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. In life, there are moments in which we are called to make a choice, where we are granted an opportunity… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Citizen’ Hearst and the state of the news

Take a journey with me, back to the year 1247. We’re in a walled city in what today is Belgium, and like many towns, it employs a town crier. Let’s call him Tom. Tom the Town Crier patrols the streets each night, calling out time and status at hourly intervals:… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

More Maine voices: tales from here, everywhere

Most of the 16 stories collected in North by Northeast 2: New Short Fiction by Maine Writers are set in Maine, and most of them approach their subject matter fairly realistically. Some, though, go outside the boundaries of conventional realism. Several stories by contributors to North by Northeast 1 (published… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The Midcoast’s master of realistic sci-fi

The Best of Elizabeth Hand By Elizabeth Hand, edited by Bill Sheehan (2021) Death, darkness, dismay, and the supernatural are hallmark characteristics of Elizabeth Hand’s highly literary weird fiction, and The Best of Elizabeth Hand collects a dozen exemplary stories from across her long career. The book contains a number… SEE MORE

Nordic Aquafarms' new facility in Fredrikstad, Norway.

Working Waterfront

Salmon facility critic says technology unproven

I wish to thank The Working Waterfront for allowing me to comment (op-ed, November issue) on technologies being promised for new large scale aquaculture facilities in Maine. The federal Environmental Protection Agency refers to these as concentrated aquatic animal production facilities. As an individual, it has been extremely difficult to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering my ‘summer girl’ days

How did we get to September already? July felt like August and August felt like a gust of wind. Surely, after the time warp that was summer 2021, I could avoid experiencing the strange mix of emotions that hits me around Labor Day. But no, here it is, right on… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Bluefin tuna blues: To eat or not to eat?

My favorite sushi restaurant is in Rockland—Suzuki Sushi, where Keiko Suzuki Steinberger presides over a delectable panorama of sushi, sashimi, nigiri, and other mostly seafood delights of Japanese cuisine. I love Chef Keiko’s insistence on fish that’s local, fresh, and sustainably harvested, but there’s one variety, in great demand, that… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The essential kitchen arts

Art, according to one Merriam-Webster definition, is a skill acquired by experience, study, or observation. Let’s tweak that to “and/or” observation. If that definition works for you, then, because it’s a joy to practice an art, let’s apply it to the part of daily life that starts in the kitchen.… SEE MORE